let's start at the very beginning
I’m a firm believer in not reinventing the wheel. If someone has mastered it before me, who am I to question their expertise? In my first year of gardening, I read a lot of books. I Googled for hours looking for tips and tricks of the trade that eventually just led me in circles down the black hole of the internet. My new hobby was quickly turning into what felt like a college research paper - definitely not what I was going for.
Sure, I gathered a lot of useful tools along the way but I also realized that part of the appeal of gardening was the trial and error. The inventor of the wheel only knew what she was doing because she got to experiment along the way. So, my advice for you? Use the basic concept of the wheel (we’re talking gardening here if you haven’t already gathered that), but add your own sparkly spokes to make it your own.
In the coming weeks I’ll discuss the main “categories” of gardening. I’ll specify where I stuck to the book (plus the resources I used) and the places where I didn’t listen to the experts and why. Honestly, Mother Nature does what she wants whether you follow the rules or not so you might as well get creative!
Let’s start from the very beginning (insert Do Re Mi tune here)...
Seed selection
Buying seeds is like finding a crazy good thrift store that has all of your favorite clothes for really cheap! 200 cucumbers seeds for $5?! I’m never going to the grocery store again! Well, that is until the beatles eat your whole harvest...My only advice here - don’t get too carried away. $5 turns into $50 really fast. You can buy seeds at hardware stores, garden centers, online, and through catalogs (yes, really). While you might want to buy one of everything, assume you’ll actually harvest what you plant so choose what you want to eat. I’m looking at you Adam - doesn’t even really like peppers but wants me to plant 10 plants - Bechtold.
https://www.southernexposure.com/
I’ll share what I end up buying but in the meantime, happy shopping!
-cate
